Hold The Cream Cheese, Kill The Lox

Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife #4

by Sharon Kahn

When the murder of a lox cutter wreaks havoc with a double bar mitzvah, Ruby traces the victim's past to Nazi-era Denmark and embarks on a chase that takes her from wintry Alaska's salmon streams to a New Jersey smokehouse. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Sharon Kahn has worked as arbitrator and attorney, and is a graduate of Vassar College and the University of Arizona Law School. The mother of three, she lives in Austin, Texas.

Sharon spent thirty-one years as a rabbi’s wife, inspiring the creation of Agatha nominated Fax Me A Bagel (Scribner) -- an Alternate Selection of the Book of the Month Club, with Ruby the Rabbi’s Wife doing the sleuthing. Her second mystery novel, Never Nosh A Matzo Ball, was followed by Don't Cry for Me, Hot Pastrami, Hold the Cream Cheese Kill the Lox, Which Big Giver Stole the Chopped Liver, and Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Choir.

Books in the series have been published as hardcover, Kindle and Nookbooks, e-books, Thorndike large print hardcover, paperback, and Audible.com editions.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the way it was structured at all. Author misses all chance to build suspense by giving the explanation for the murder in an email between characters!! Honest!! Really cheats the reader.

[Rachel N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up
This is the fourth book in a series featuring Ruby whose Rabbi husband was killed at the start of the series. This time around Ruby is drafted into lodging Essie Sue's twin cousins sons as they prepare for their bar mitzvah. The man Essie Sue wants to hire to provide lox for the reception is found murdered with a knife in his back. Ruby sort of investigates the crime, the book takes place over 9 months so no one is in a huge hurry to solve this. About a third of the book is spent describing Ruby's vacation to Alaska in detail which has nothing to do with the murder investigation. I would like more of an actual mystery and less of an Alaska travelogue. I own one more book in the series which I'll probably read but then I think I'm done with the series.

[Johnna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this series very much. This title was a little slow on catching my attention but turned out to be a fun read!

[B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Cindi Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2...

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - Good

[Rebecca Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy Light Read. I liked it.

[Teresa Mills-Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such an easy and enjoyable series by an author who writes well.

[Barbara Cryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a huge fan. The silly kind of cozy, where the characters are annoying and the plot thin.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruby, the rabbi's wife, travels from one side of the United States to the other investigating the murder of a master lox cutter, whose roots are traced back to Nazi-era Denmark.

I liked this light hearted cozy mystery. Parts of it were comical due to the parts of Essie Sue , who has a narcissistic personality and her nemesis Ruby, who is an amateur sleuth. I don't know how Ruth allows Essie Sue to get away with the things she does. Somehow, Ruth gets roped into watching Essie Sue's wild 13 year old twin boys. The antics they end up pulling are unbelievable. Meanwhile a murder has happened in their Texas town and this is where Ruth jumps in and wants to help solve the crime.

I also liked the Jewish culture that was part of this book. It brought me back to when I was a child and used to listen to my grandparents speak Yiddush to my parents.

If you want to read a quick comical mystery then i think you might like this book.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruby the rabbi's widow finds the body of Herman Guenther, a skilled lox-slicer, when she and her bete noire, Essie Sue, go to see why the old man missed an appointment. Ruby is reluctantly helping the bar mitzvah plans for Essie Sue's relatives, twins Lester and Larry. Since Ruby is planning a vacation with a friend to Alaska, she ends up checking on the salmon supplier her deli uses in Kodiak, and then goes to New York with her boyfriend to see if she can find more background on Herman.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#4 in the Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife series.

Ruby is now having a long distance affair with Ed, the investigative reporter she met in St. Thomas. Essie Mae is trying to get Herman, a lox maven, to work at her nephews Bar Mitzvah. After he is killed, Ruby travels to Alaska with Nan to follow a lead and then to New Jersey with Ed to follow another. It all comes together at Herman's granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series has always been a little off. Sometimes it works but this time I was left scratching my head (and yelling at the book). Ruby for whatever reason decides that the death isn't related to the man's history, it must be a supply line problem. So rather than go East to the obvious source of useful information, she goes North West to Ketchikan, Alaska, in November of all times.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comm...

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this Ruby book the story involves a complicated Bar/Bat Mitzvah that the atrocious Essie Sue drags Ruby into action. This is number four in the series and this one is on par with the first, Fax Me a Bagel.

[Cynthia Rielley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun series. Very light quick read

[Lee Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the fact this mystery story ends up with the murderer getting caught and how it has lots of twist and turns.

[Sheena Gossett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't as much mystery as prior books in this series. More of the story devoted to interpersonal relationships of the characters. The Jewish humor is still prominent.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great tale by Sharon Kahn! But I see there are only six in this series ... I hope she writes more!

[Deborah Sigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this series.

[Laurie Stoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute entertaining story.